Participant: Hey everybody.

Welcome back to another episode of
the Breakthrough Church Podcast.

Um, if you're listening to this,
I'm guessing this is launch week.

Uh, right now it's September
3rd, I'm recording this.

So we have a couple of weeks
this Saturday, and then, uh,

the next Saturday is launch.

And it's pretty surreal to think
about, but if you're listening to

this, I'm guessing this is coming
out next week on launch week.

So, uh, oh boy, it's coming in hot.

Um.

You know, all the, all the emotions,
excitement, zeal, uh, fear.

Fear may not be, fear may be too
strong of a word, but, um, just anxious

to be there and to do the thing.

Um, and then, you know, it's kind of like
the wedding and then the marriage starts.

The, the wedding is a moment to mark
and to celebrate and to remember, uh,

make promises, covenant kind of stuff.

Um, and then you have the marriage,
the day-to-day marriage where

you're loving your spouse, and, uh,
that's what we're signed up for.

So, um, before I, I share a word,
I just wanna invite you to not

just launch Saturday, but I wanna
invite you to break through church.

Um, if, uh, if you're planning
on coming on launch day.

Awesome.

Um.

That's, that's great.

I think we're gonna, you know, I could
be wrong, so I'm not saying this in

confidence, but, or with a bunch of
confidence, but I do feel like it's

gonna be pretty packed on launch day.

I just hear, keep hearing of people
saying they're gonna be there.

Um, so, uh, if, if you're, if
you're still trying to make plans,

don't come launch day, come week
two or week three or week four.

Um, let's stagger this a little
bit and um, see if we can, um.

Just, uh, have a bunch of friendly
people in, in breakthrough, uh, at

the building while uh, new people
are showing up and they don't know

that you'll never be there again.

But you can be friendly with them
and, uh, and show 'em that we're

friendly around here at Breakthrough.

So, uh, yeah, September 13th is launched
day at 5:00 PM at Loft City Church.

But if you just Google Maps
Breakthrough Church, you'll see it.

And, um.

Very, very excited, uh, for
what the Lord is gonna do.

It's been a long time coming.

Um, and we're gonna talk this Saturday
about being a prepared people, um,

walking in preparedness for a baptism
of the Holy Spirit, like Jesus came.

And so, um, excited to, to share that.

But today I wanted to.

Just briefly, it'd probably
be a shorter episode.

Um, I just wanted to share, I'm
going through the, the Bible

before the end of the year.

I've mentioned that I think.

But, um, I, I was in the book of, or
I'm currently in the book of judges and

I've really been captivated by Gideon
and what God has called Gideon to do.

And over and over and over
again, God calls Gideon, um,

to, to do things he's afraid of.

And it's, and it says that, um.

Like the first thing he asked him to
do is to basically go back and to save

Israel, um, to be the one that God's
gonna use to deliver the people from,

from their enemies because of their sin.

And, and Gideon's basically,
basically like, well, who am I?

Like my clan is the weakest and
I'm the least in my father's house.

Uh, and the Lord says, I'm gonna
be with you and you shall strike

the Midianites as one man.

Uh, and, and so Gideon, uh, he,
he basically does, he answers

the call and he goes, and he, he
does some stuff in his hometown.

I'm gonna share that in a second.

But then, uh, the next thing that
God calls him to do is, uh, to

save Israel on a greater scale.

And this is when Gideon throws
out the fleece because he's like,

I just need you to confirm this.

Lord, if you're really calling me to
do this, I need you to confirm it.

And so he throws out the fleece,
and both times he does it.

God answers his prayer confirming
what he had called him to do.

And then Gideon goes, and he is basically
gonna, he's camping a north of Midian.

And he's about to go in, but
he's got 22, or he is got like

32,000 people in his army.

But God tells him there's too
many, uh, whoever's fearful,

trembling tell him to go home.

And so anybody in the army who's
full of fear, he tells 'em to go.

And so that leaves 10,000.

Uh, then the Lord says there's still
too many, take 'em down to the water.

And he does this, basically this, this
test where if they lap like a dog in

the water, then, then they're to stay.

But if they don't, they're to leave.

And so it left 'em with 300
men and Gideon and 300 men.

They go.

To defeat Midianites.

And um, the Lord tells him, if
you're afraid to go down, go down

to the camp with pure your servant
and you shall hear what they say.

And afterward your hands shall be
strengthened and go down against the camp.

This is amazing.

So he goes down to the camp in
Midian and there's two guys and

they start talking and one of 'em
is like, bro, I just had a dream.

I bet he said, bro, too, bro.

I just had a dream.

Lemme tell you what it is.

Um, and basically, uh, the dream was
a cake of barley bread tumbled into

the camp of Midian and came to the
tent and struck it, that it fell and

turned it upside down so that the tent
lay flat and his comrade answered.

I mean, where does this come from?

The comrade answered.

This is no, other than the
sword of Gideon, the son of

Joe Ash, a man of Israel.

God has given into his hand Midian and
all the camp what in the world, how,

how would they have connected a cake of
barley bread tumbling into the camp with.

The sword of of Gideon.

It doesn't make any any
sense except God told him.

If you're afraid, go down and listen.

I gave somebody a dream and the
interpretation's about you, and

so he goes and he hears two guys.

He's never met.

In fact, they're enemies of Israel.

Had a dream talking about Gideon
and how the Lord has given Gideon

Midian into Gideon's hands.

Midian Gideon.

That's confusing.

I mean, how crazy.

That's such a wild story.

But it's also the power of dreams and
interpretation, how they can encourage us

to really fulfill God's purpose for us.

Um, but anyways, I just think it's like
Gideon was constantly asked to do things,

uh, that were too big for him, that he
was afraid of, and God intentionally

made it, uh, so that he had to have
faith by whittling it down to 300.

But, but this, the first, the
first story I wanna just camp

out for a little bit is God.

God calls Gideon to go back to his
hometown, to his very house, to tear

down an altar of Baal and the Asra.

Um, so he, the Lord says this in judges
6 25 that night, the Lord said to him,

take your father's bull and the second
bull, seven years old and pulled down

the altar of Baal that your father has,
and cut down the Asher that is beside it

and build an altar to the Lord your God.

On the top of the stronghold here
with stones laid in due order, then

take the second bull and offer it
as a burnt offering with the wood of

the Asher that you shall cut down.

So Gideon took 10 men of his servants
and did as the Lord had told him,

but because he was too afraid of his
family and the men of the town to

do it by day, he did it by night.

So God is telling, uh, Gideon to
go back to your hometown, uh, and

go into your house, and I want you
to destroy false worship in your

hometown that your father has set up.

Okay?

Like, just imagine that.

Like God is asking you to go, um, and
go back to your hometown to where your

family is and, uh, tear down this altar
that, that your father, your family, and

the men of the town, men in the women
of the, of the town had been worshiping.

And Gideon takes 10 men and he's afraid.

So he goes at night.

This is just wild.

These stories in, in the Bible are real.

Um, uh, and so they,
they, they go and do that.

And here's the instructions.

What God tells him to
do is take two bowls.

Um, and use them to tear down the
altar of bale and then take and, and

to cut down the ASRA that is beside it.

Um, and then take the, the bull, build
an altar and sacrifice the bull spill.

Its blood on the altar made out of the
very wood that was holding up the asra.

So the asra, uh, there's some, there's
a little bit of confusion around this

if you, if you look it up, but it's,
it's basically referring to like some

sacred wooden poles that were erected at
places where Asra, this goddess, um, was

worshiping, uh, or, or was worshiped.

And so ASRA was like this
goddess of fertility, I believe.

And, and they would, they
would erect these big poles.

Uh, in these places of worship, so
there's an altar of Baal and then an asra.

They all kind of like went together.

And so a place of worship you would go
and you would, you'd worship, um, Baal

and ASRA using these different structures.

And, and God is telling Gideon, go
and knock down, uh, those altars and

the asra and use the wood of the asra.

As a place to burn this bull and spill
its blood in the place of false worship.

Uh, and I just, I was thinking about
this and anytime you see blood being

spilled, you need to be, be paying
attention in the Old Testament

because that's the very explicit.

Uh, reference to, to the work of Jesus
on the cross, which is the whole point

of scripture, you should be looking
for calvary in the Old Testament.

Anytime you're reading it, your eyes
should be looking for how is this pointing

me to Jesus's sacrifice on the cross?

And when you find that the, the sacrifice
of Jesus on the cross in the Old

Testament, is there something special
that happens, like your heart comes alive.

And um, and so in this specific
instance, I began to think, okay,

well there's clearly a reference to.

To Jesus here and what,
what's going on here?

Uh, and so I have to explain a few
things, um, or really refer to a few

things for it to make full sense.

But do you remember, um, Elijah
and the prophets of Baal, uh,

later in one Kings 17 or 18?

No.

First Kings 18.

Uh, Elijah challenges these prophets of
Baal and says, Hey, you set up an altar

and I'll set up an altar and we're gonna
pour water on the altars and we're gonna

see which God consumes the sacrifice.

And whoever's God consumes the
sacrifice, that is the true God.

So, ready, set, go.

And the prophets of Baal take a bull.

They sacrifice the bull and
they cry out to Baal for it

to consume the bull with fire.

And um, obviously nothing happens
because bail's not the right.

True God.

But what does it say?

How they cried out to Baal?

They were dancing.

They were not necessarily dancing.

Ah, I should have had a, I should
have had my, my Bible there.

Um, I wanna make sure, oh, here it is.

And so at noon, Elijah mocked them
saying, cry aloud for he is a God.

Either he is amusing or he is relieving
himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps

he, he's asleep and must be awakened.

And they cried aloud and cut
themselves after they're custom

with swords and lances until
the blood gushed out upon them.

Um, and it says, no one paid attention.

This God would, no one answered.

There was no voice, no one paid attention,
and they just were going crazy, cutting

themselves and their own blood was
gushing out onto the altar, crying

out for a God who could not hear them
and had no, no voice to talk to them.

Um, so what marked Baal worship
was, was people bleeding to

get the attention of this God.

This was what worshiping Baal
looked like anywhere you went?

If there was blood, yeah.

It could have been the blood of
the bull, but there were people

that were crying out to God.

How they sought this God of Baal
was that they would bleed for

God's attention and affection.

That they, they were, they were wanting
to be blessed by Baal, by the asra.

Um.

The way that they were going
after the blessing was by bleeding

themselves, um, and causing this
blood to, to basically get the

attention and affection of this God.

Okay, well, what does God tell him to do?

He tells, tear down this
altar, use the wood and offer

the bull as a burnt offering.

What's the point here?

Okay.

There's false worship
and there's true worship.

The false worship is celebrating,
uh, or false worship.

I wrote this down.

I should have, I should have it out.

False worship is centered on
a God, um, who is not real.

Therefore creates in us this striving for
blessing and ultimately it's us bleeding

for God's attention and affection.

That's what false worship.

It's us thinking that in our own
efforts, in our own sacrifice, in our

own bodily mu mutilation, we can earn
and achieve God's blessing and God's

affection and attention, but true worship,
which is what Gideon was called to go

restore in his father's house first.

More on that in a second.

In his father's house, he was restoring
right worship in his father's house.

What God told him to do was offer a bull
and let it bleed on the wood of the asra.

True worship is worshiping the
God who bleeds for his people.

False worship is bleeding
for God's attention.

True worship is God bleeding
for our attention and affection.

This bull is a picture of the lamb of God.

That is Jesus who would come God
in the flesh and would bleed.

We worship a God who
bleeds for us out of love.

False worship, false idolatry.

It only leads us to death, destruction,
mutilation of our own flesh.

For what?

For nothing that God cannot hear
and that God cannot speak to you.

That God cannot bless you or
have affection for you because

that God does not exist.

But the true God of scripture that
that Gideon was called to follow

and restore right worship for is
the God who bleeds for his people.

This is powerful.

True worship is centered on
the God who's, who bleeds.

For his people, and ultimately
that's fulfilled in Jesus.

I think of a Isaac and Abraham.

They're going up on the mountain and
Isaac, Isaac says, I have the wood,

you have the fire, but where's the,
where's the lamb for burnt offering?

And, and Abraham.

Abraham says, God will provide for himself
the lamb or ram for the burnt offering.

The God that we worship.

The true God is a God
who demands perfection.

But when perfection is not met, he
provides for himself the sacrifice

for the imperfections of his people.

What a merciful, gracious God.

This is who we are.

This is who we get to worship
a God who bleeds for us.

Yeah.

And so I just was captivated by
this and if he, and so Gideon

went back to his father's house.

Okay.

Do you, when do you remember, um, in
Malachi, what's the promise that that

the one that will come in the spirit
and power of Elijah will do what?

He will turn the hearts of the fathers
back to the children and the hearts

of the children back to their fathers.

When there's a renewal coming in
a nation, where does it start?

Well, according to Gideon,
it starts in the family.

It starts by having fathers restoring
right worship in their homes, worshiping

the true God who bleeds for his people.

Jesus Christ.

It is renewal happens when
families begin to prioritize

worship of Jesus in their home.

Sometimes kids have to lead that
because dads are wilding out.

Um, wilding out worshiping
Baal and the asra.

I think we are in a season right now
where God is pouring out his spirit

and beginning the, the, the pre,
uh, the preview of what is to come.

There's a, there's like, they
call it the silent revival.

Gen Z is coming back to the Lord.

Um, in the last four years,
that has been a great shift.

And Gen Z is coming back to the Lord
and that I believe Gen Z will be the

ones that lead families and then society
back into right worship of Jesus Christ.

Not not of our own religion, but
of the true God who bleeds for us.

Uh, and he will, I, I think the Gen Z
is gonna turn our nation back from this

false worship where we feel like we have
to strive, we have to cut ourselves, we

have to bleed for the sake of this God.

And who is this God?

Well, we don't know.

We have all of these different
names for it, but in culture,

there's all these different gods.

We worship thinking that it's,
they're requiring us, that we

would bleed for it to receive
its affection and its attention.

And I think Gen Z is in the process
of turning a nation back to write

worship of the God who bleeds for us.

That is Jesus Christ and, and it's
only in right worship, putting

Jesus Christ and the cross in its
rightful place in our hearts and

in our assemblies, in our homes.

That is when society will
turn and revival will happen.

And so I think that we just need to jump
on this and we need to minister to Gen Z.

So if you have anybody who's in high
school or, or college that you're close

to, I would just encourage you begin to
really lean in on those relationships,

really start to minister to them and bless
them and, and see what the Lord might

be doing there, because I think there's
something really important happening.

And so here's, here's
the end of Gideon, right?

So, um, right before Gideon, uh,
kind of goes his own way and dies.

Um, there's a, there's a people that
say, Gideon, will you and your son

rule over us because you've delivered
us and saved us from the hand In

Midian and Gideon, blessed Gideon,
he says, I will not rule over you

and my son will not rule over you.

The Lord will rule over you.

That's the right answer, right?

The Lord is their king.

The Lord is their ruler.

Um.

But what does Gideon do?

Um, he says, okay, but the
Lord's gonna rule over you, but

here's, lemme make a request.

Give me all of your
earrings from the spoil.

Um, and, and they give it.

And then using, they use the gold
from the earrings to build an efi.

Um, and he put it in his city infra and
all Israel hoarded after it there, and it

became a snare of Gideon into his family.

What happens when as a leader, you
initiate this renewal and revival?

In a city, in a nation, in a
home, whatever it might be.

And at the tail end of it,
you say, I don't want credit.

I, I, all, the Lord gets the glory.

And, and I want the Lord to be
ruler and to king of your life.

But hey, how about just a little
trace of my leadership left behind?

What does that become?

A snare, a trap.

Why?

Because people will then look
at it and worship it rather than

the one that it is pointing to.

That is Jesus Christ himself.

And I just had this thought today
as I was reading this man, I.

At the end of my leadership, I'm
not sure I'm at a place where I'd

be willing to say I want no trace of
my leadership at the end of my day.

And I want the only trace to be the
God of Israel, the God of Abraham,

Isaac, Jacob, the God of Jesus Christ.

I, I, I'm not there if I'm being honest.

My heart is not there.

But Lord, would you help me be a man
who at the end of my days and in my

leadership when I leave, there is no
trace of me, but only traces of him.

Um, that's my heart and that's my goal,
and that's what we want for breakthrough.

And so I just, I bless the Lord because
he is so gracious with me and with us.

And so, um, I hope this
was encouraging to you.

If something resonated with
you, um, please reach out.

Let's talk about it.

And, uh, I just think God's doing
something special in Gen Z and he is

turning the hearts of the fathers back to
children and using children to do that.

And so let's lean in on that.

And, um, bless the Lord.

So, uh, appreciate you guys.

If you wanna come to launch
day, that'd be awesome.

Uh, hopefully see you there on
SA Saturday, September 13th.

Love y'all.

Have a great one.

Bye.